


It's A Long Way Forward

by bmcbapej



Series: This Isn't Toxic (But I'm Still Slipping Under) [3]
Category: Pitch Perfect (Movies)
Genre: Gen, Post-Pitch Perfect 3, Texting, pre-romance bemily
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-02
Updated: 2018-02-02
Packaged: 2019-03-10 13:30:28
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,996
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13502495
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bmcbapej/pseuds/bmcbapej
Summary: Just because you’re by yourself, doesn’t mean you’re alone.orThe Bellas and Beca keep in touch during her month-long tour with DJ Khaled.





	It's A Long Way Forward

**Author's Note:**

> This was a really interesting writing exercise. Finding a balance when it came to the messaging was a bit hard and I'm not sure if I got it quite right. I tried to factor in characterizations with different phone text handling (since some phones auto capitalize and some don't) whilst also keeping in mind the readability of everything. The pacing is a lot faster than the other two stories I've written for this series so that was also fun to play with.
> 
> Also Lilly goes by Esther now in case that wasn't obvious.

_Chloe changed the group photo._

**Chloe:** thx 4 bringing us on stage Becs!

 **Aubrey:** Oh my god, we’re all literally crying in that photo. Couldn’t you have picked a better one?

 **Stacie:** :(

 **Chloe:**?

 **Chloe:** w8 wrong pic

_Chloe changed the group photo._

**Stacie:** and now the photo is 10x hotter <3

 **Aubrey:** Did you just photoshop Stacie into that photo…

 **Cynthia-Rose:** looks more like paint than photoshop tbh

***

If Beca thought that the last-minute USO tour preparations were hectic, they had nothing on the logistics involved in winning DJ Khaled’s tour spot. When Beca wasn’t being directed back and forth for sound checks and costume fittings, she was getting to know the rest of Khaled’s team and learning what exactly was going to be expected of her if she signed. It was new and exciting but also a little overwhelming.

***

 **Beca:** hey Aubrey can u do me a huge favour

 **Aubrey:** That depends.

 **Beca:** can u have a look at my contract

 **Aubrey:** I studied BUSINESS law, Beca. You should get a practicing entertainment lawyer to look at this.

 **Beca:** i can do that later if i decide to sign. just want to make sure im not selling my soul or something.

 **Beca:** already read it and looks ok but im no expert

 **Aubrey:** Okay. Just make sure to have a professional look over it before you sign it.

 **Beca:** ur the best

_File uploaded: RC047-A[BECA-MITCHELL].pdf_

**Aubrey:** Wait, what did you mean by “if” you sign?

***

Whilst Beca had agreed to the tour, she still wasn’t sure if she wanted to sign that record deal. She knows she’d be stupid to pass on it but something about the whole thing still made her feel uneasy. She’s still got a whole month until she actually has to put pen to paper and make a decision. But that was ages away, right?

***

_You have 93 new notifications._

***

Aubrey was such a snitch.

***

 **Emily:** Hey guys I forgot to ask earlier but what did you all think about the set @ the aquarium?

 **Jessica:** It made us feel gold

 **Emily:** Aww!

 **Jessica:** Old*

 **Ashley:** ^

 **Emily:** OMG

 **Ashley:** I think Amy said it made her vagina feel less tight

 **Emily:** That’s not what we were going for D:

 **Emily:** I’m so sorry guys!!!!!

 **Beca:** musically speaking it was pretty solid. why r u asking now? also isnt it like 4am where u r

 **Emily:** We’re performing it at nationals and I wanted to know what you guys thought about it

 **Emily:** Can’t sleep. It’s only 3am over here!

 **Beca:** ohh yeah it was fine. good luck at nationals

 **Emily:** Thanks! :D

***

Beca frowned at her phone as she reread Emily’s latest messages. Whilst being up past 3am wasn’t usually a big deal for college students (especially in the weeks leading up to finals), Emily had never been much of a night owl. She was usually out like a light long before midnight. Double checking that she indeed had time to spare (her flight wasn’t due for boarding for another half hour), she pulled up her contacts list and pressed dial.

“Hello?” Beca recognised that croaky tone of voice as one of two possibilities. It was either Emily’s I-just-woke-up voice or her I’ve-been-crying voice. She was willing to bet her favourite headphones on which of those it was.

“Hey Legacy. Trouble sleeping, huh?”

“Yeah… Just thinking about _things._ ” Beca was also willing to bet she knew what those _things_ in question were.

She echoed a statement she remembered making back in France, “Must be some pretty heavy things if you’re still up at 3am.”

“This is going to sound stupid but we were watching The Crown earlier and the guy that plays Winston Churchill looks a lot like Amy’s dad.” Having never seen the show herself, Beca could only take the other girl’s word for it. “I can’t stop thinking about it. What do you do when you can’t sleep?”

“Hey now, it’s not stupid. People look like each other all the time. Have you seen Hailee Steinfeld? She practically looks like your twin. I usually go work on a mix or browse the internet.” She winces a little as she remembers one restless night back at Barden where she ended up sending over 100 memes to Jesse. “Have you tried listening to some music?”

“My phone’s out of space right now so I usually just stream stuff on Spotify. Every time an ad comes up it just jolts me awake again.”

“Oh.” Beca makes a mental note to gift her a subscription or something.

“Hey, Beca?”

“Yeah?”

“Actually, never mind.”

“What?”

“It’s not important.”

“No, go on.”

“Umm, I was just going to ask if maybe you could sing for me.” Beca looks around her at the mostly vacant space. It’s an early morning flight on a Wednesday so the place isn’t as crowded as it would usually be. “Don’t worry-”

“Sure.”

“-about it. Wait what?”

“Sure. I’ve got time. What did you want to hear?”

“Oh, umm. Anything, you decide.”

Beca takes a few moments to decide, cycling through all the songs she can think of. The majority of songs she’s been singing lately have been more upbeat since she was supposed to be hyping up the audience for DJ Khaled. Those probably aren’t appropriate right now, so she settles on a rendition of Joshua Radin’s We Are Okay.

 _“_ _We are grown but cannot see_  
_Lost our world of make believe_  
_Simple times now seem so far_  
_Used to be in my backyard_  
_Yeah, the world was still in my backyard_  
  
_But, we are okay, we are alright_  
_We sing very loud_  
_Yeah, we're singing_  
_We are okay, we are alright_  
_Close our eyes, close our mouth_  
_Yeah, we shut our eyes though we're in doubt_  
  
_Build me a home from a cardboard box_  
_Many windows never locked_  
_This is how we used to play_  
_Shorter nights and longer days_  
_With faith we would not fade away_  
  
_But we are okay, we are alright_  
_We sing very loud_  
_Yeah, we're singing_  
_We are okay, we are alright_  
_Close our eyes, close our mouth_  
_Yeah we shut our eyes though we're in doubt_  
  
_And so it goes_  
_We can never seem to find, the time we lost_  
_Though we try at any cost_  
_We try, we sing_  
  
_We are okay, we are alright_  
_We sing very loud_  
_Yeah, we're singing_  
_We are okay, we are alright_  
_Close our eyes, close our mouth_  
_Yeah we shut our eyes though we're in doubt”_

Hearing nothing but slow breathing on the other end, Beca decided that her choice was a success. She waits a few more seconds to make sure the other girl is asleep before hanging up.

‘ATTENTION PASSENGERS FOR AER LINGUS FLIGHT 9885 TO TORONTO. PLEASE MAKE YOUR WAY TO GATE 3. BOARDING WILL BEGIN SHORTLY.’

***

_Esther shared with you: “You’ll Never Guess What Happened at the Airport | Storytime”_

**Esther:** Do you want me to make him to take it down?

 **Beca:** do u know him?

 **Esther:** No

 **Beca:** …

 **Beca:** its okay dw

***

So apparently anything she does in public is fair game. There are worst things to be caught doing on the internet but it’s a reminder that she needs to be a bit more self-aware. She doesn’t regret doing it though, just that it’s on display for everyone to see. A quick skim shows the YouTuber’s other videos don’t get more than 1000 views so barely anyone will see it anyway.

***

 **Florencia:** I was thinking of changing up my logo. What do you guys think of these?

_Florencia uploaded: juiceflowslogo(3).jpg_

_Florencia uploaded: juiceflowslogo(5).jpg_

_Florencia uploaded: juiceflowslogo(11).jpg_

**Emily:** They all look really good!!

 **Cynthia-Rose:** 2nd one looks dope

 **Stacie:** #3

 **Ashley:** The first one is really cute

 **Jessica:** +1 for the first picture

 **Amy:** That third one looks like you should be selling wieners if you get my drift

 **Florencia:** …

 **Ashley:** I can’t unsee it

 **Cynthia-Rose:** girls got a point

 **Aubrey:** It does look quite phallic.

 **Stacie:** wait isnt that the point?

***

Beca’s been trying to create some original music in-between shows but inspiration refuses to strike. Mixing and producing has always been her forte but she’s not so sure how to go about writing lyrics. She knows she doesn’t have to do everything herself, but Sammy’s words from her time at Residual Heat still come to mind from time to time. What does she have to say?

***

_Stacie shared with you: “The Internet Is Freaking Out About Airport Girl”_

**Stacie:** dont forget me now that your famous

***

_Chloe uploaded: airportgirl.mp4_

**Chloe:**!??!?!?!?

 **Chloe:** call me!

***

_Amy shared with you: “Airport Girl Song But Every Time A Passer-by Stops It Gets Higher”_

**Amy:** Crushed it

***

_Esther shared with you: “10 Unexpected Things That AREN’T Banned By U.S Customs”_

***

_Emily shared with you: “Airport Girl (Singing Cut)”_

**Emily:** OMG THIS IS YOU :O

***

Okay apparently past performance is not always indicative of future performance and she’s just inadvertently jumpstarted someone’s YouTube career. Beca also receives an updated contract via email sometime later that week. She stares at it for hours before forwarding it to Aubrey.

***

 **Beca:** good luck tonight legacy

 **Emily:** Thanks!

 **Emily:** Sorry I didn’t see your message until now

 **Emily:** I’m a bit nervous but the girls have all practiced heaps

 **Emily:** I think tonights gonna be our year!

 **Emily:** Oh my stars the competition is really good this year

 **Emily:** We’re gonna try our best though >:D

 **Emily:** REEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE! I think that was our best performance yet!

 **Emily:** Yikes one of the performers just fell off stage. Hope he’s ok :o

_Emily uploaded: 20180420213543.jpg_

**Emily:** WE DID IT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 **Beca:** sorry just finished

 **Beca:** NICE! congrats man. knew youd smash it

 **Beca:** did they change the trophy? looks different this yr

***

Seeing Emily clutching her very own ICCA trophy brought a smile to her face. She knows how hard the girl has been working these past 3 years to train a whole new batch of Bellas. Without realising, Beca’s right hand starts rubbing her left arm which has a Bella scarf hidden beneath her shirt. She’s taken to secretly wearing it during each performance.

She spends the entire cab ride back to her hotel browsing through photos on her phone. By the time she arrives, she’s too restless to go to sleep and spends the next few hours working on her music. Inspiration has arrived in the form of a new beat and she knows she needs to get it down before she forgets.

***

_Chloe uploaded: 20180421085433.jpg_

**Chloe:** THEYRE SO FLUFFY IM GONNA DIE

 **Beca:** dude r u literally in a sea of puppies rn

 **Chloe:** temp job @ rescue cent til school starts

 **Beca:** should they all be out like that at once

 **Chloe:** :)

 **Beca:** chloe…

 **Chloe:** :)

***

The good thing about staying up until the sun rises is that she doesn’t need to wake up for her early morning flight. The bad thing is everything else involved with sleep deprivation.

***

 **Cynthia-Rose:** so it turns out ive been failing flight school cause my instructors were all bad. these military ones are real good. i actually know what half these buttons do now

 **Jessica:** Shouldn’t you know what all of them do?

 **Cynthia-Rose:** im not einstein

_Ashley shared: “How To Survive A Plane Crash - Part 1”_

_Cynthia-Rose has removed Ashley from the chat._

***

The rest of the day passes by in a blur which probably isn’t a good thing considering she’s about 80% sure someone in law enforcement had called her up about the whole Fergus debacle. She can’t remember what she said but it can’t have gone too badly.

***

 **Aubrey:** Beca! Why do I have a voicemail from someone who thinks I’m your lawyer. Did you get arrested?

 **Aubrey:** Call me. ASAP.

***

 **Stacie:** wat did you do?

_Stacie uploaded: 20180421233296.jpg_

**Stacie:** shes been yelling at the comp for 10 mins

***

It’s her first proper day off and Beca wasn’t sure what to do with herself. Technically she had two days off, but she spent all of yesterday sleeping once she had calmed Aubrey down so that didn’t count. During that heated phone conversation Aubrey had let it slip that she was currently living with Stacie. Apparently, the older girl had been seriously considering working with babies and Stacie was going to need someone to look after Bella if she wanted to continue graduate school once the new semester started. Beca isn’t sure how someone who loves control would be okay working with something as unpredictable as children, but Aubrey sounded happy.

***

 **Emily:** Guess whos graduating!

 **Emily:** Results are out and I passed everything!

 **Stacie:** gratz!

 **Florentia:** congratulations!

 **Ashley:** Congratulations!

 **Chloe:** congrats!

 **Aubrey:** Congratulations, Emily! None of us doubted you for a minute.

 **Beca:** good one dude

 **Aubrey:** As eloquent as ever, Mitchell.

 **Beca:** fk off

***

After looking at some old graduation photos, Beca spends the day doing some tourist things. It feels weird to do it alone since most of her USO tour downtime had been spent being dragged along to wherever the other girls had wanted to go. It’s refreshing to be going at her own pace. She even has the patience to buy some souvenirs.

***

 **Beca:** remember when we talked about my contract?

 **Aubrey:** Yes. If you’ve got another one for me to look at I’m going to have to start charging you.

 **Beca:** no no its still the same. was just wondering if you knew any good ent lawyers?

 **Aubrey:** Not off the top of my head, no, but I can ask around if you like.

 **Beca:** thatd be awesome thanks a heap

***

It had taken a while, but she finally thinks Theo understands that there’s going to be nothing romantic between them. Now that he’s stopped trying to (badly) flirt with her, they seem to be getting along quite well.

***

_Stacie uploaded: 20180422130951.jpg_

**Stacie:** look at these 2 qts

 **Chloe:** omg <3 it!!! wish i was there :(

 **Stacie:** they both fell asleep after lunch lol

***

She bumps into Denise in the streets of Mexico of all places. She hasn’t seen the other girl since Cynthia-Rose’s almost wedding in Maine a few years back. They’ve never been particularly close so the meeting was awkward and she’s sure both of them were more than a little relieved when it was over. They talk a little about Cynthia-Rose, the other Bellas and her tour, but Beca has enough social awareness to not bring up the whole “I saw you climb out of a window to escape your own wedding” thing.

***

_Jessica shared: “New Café ‘Breakfast & Breakloose’ Opening In Georgia”_

**Jessica:** Hey guys! Our new restaurant is opening next Sat if anyone is free

 **Ashley:** Yeah! Let us know if you can make it and we’ll save you a spot :)

 **Chloe:** YES! i'll ask 4 time off. lmk wat time is good

 **Stacie:** me & aubs will be there

 **Emily:** Can I bring my mum?

 **Amy:** Free food? Count me in pitches

***

Beca gets in touch with a woman named Anna who came with stellar recommendations. It turns out her contract terms are very generous for a starting artist and she is once again told that she’d be stupid to not agree to them. The pancake she had put down when the call came in suddenly doesn’t taste as good as it had in the beginning.

***

 **Beca:** please stop signing me up to weird shit

 **Amy:** Why are you blaming me?

 **Beca:** ALL THESE EMAILS ARE ADDRESSED TO AMY

***

She signs her first autograph after a concert in Brazil (Beca realises it's kinda ugly and if she's serious about this whole music business she's gonna have to create a better one). The girl claims to have heard all her stuff including remixes and mashups from her old Barden DJing days. She’s surprised by how excited about her music this fan is. She knows that music has the ability to emotionally touch people, but it’s surreal for it to be _her_ music. Even Theo’s smug teasing couldn’t put a damper on her spirits.

***

 **Chloe:** can i borrow ur car on fri? gonna pick up flo w/ amy 4 sat

 **Beca:** yeah nws

 **Beca:** surprised ur only asking now. thought youd need it when u got back

 **Chloe:** :)

 **Beca:** chloe…

 **Chloe:** :)

***

They arrive at the last concert location a few days in advance. Her new hotel room comes equipped with recording equipment and it turns out that DJ Khaled is giving her a longer opening set time. Making a beeline for the equipment, she realises there’s a paper version of her contract under the headphones. She decides to start unpacking first instead.

***

 **Cynthia-Rose:** so i got an interesting voicemail last night

 **Beca:**?

 **Cynthia-Rose:** from denise

 **Beca:** oh

 **Beca:** ur not still hung up about her r u?

 **Cynthia-Rose:** nah

 **Cynthia-Rose:** was nice to finally have an actual explanation though

 **Beca:** icic

 **Cynthia-Rose:** thanks btw

***

This is the biggest venue yet and holy shit there were so many special effects. Beca can't stop herself from requesting use of the lasers _and_ the fog machine. She's not sure how they'll fit into her set yet but she was going to make them fit. She declines the pyrotechnics of course.

***

 **Emily:** You still up?

 **Beca:** its 4pm here

 **Emily:** Oh right

 **Emily:** Are you busy?

 **Beca:** not really. just waiting for this track to compile. nothing else planned today

 **Beca:** y?

***

She sees the dots which indicate Emily had been typing something disappear. Frowning a little, she's then distracted by a chime indicating her laptop had finished processing her latest project. She ended up forgoing most of the lasers since using them all was probably a bit too gratuitous for the set she had eventually decided on, but the fog effects were going to be awesome.

After queueing up multiple backups (she's still scarred from that one time all but one of her files had corrupted back in Switzerland), her phone starts to vibrate with an incoming call. It was Emily.

"Hello?"

"Hey! How's the tour going? Where are you, anyway?"

"It's going alright. There's so much happening at once and I'm learning heaps. We're in Tokyo right now, which means it's, like, 4am where you are. Why are you still up, dude?"

"It's only 2." She rolls her eyes even though she knows the other girl can't see her.

"Sorry, why are you still up at 2am then?"

"So graduate school offers came out today. Well, yesterday now, I guess. And, umm, I got into UGA."

"You... don't sound so excited about that. Wasn't that your first preference?"

"It was. It is. It's just... do you ever wonder if you're, you know, doing the right thing?"

Beca tries to ignore the unsigned contract that she can see out of the corner of her eyes. "What do you mean by that?"

"I don't know. Like, is this the right move for me?"

“I can’t really answer that for you, Em. What else would you be doing instead?”

She hears a rustle on the other end and assumes Emily must be shifting positions in bed or on a couch. “Well- I mean, I could go get a job or something. Maybe become a productive member of society. I thought about traveling for a bit earlier this year but then we did that already with the whole USO thing.  And it was fun! But I don’t really want to do something like that again so soon, especially by myself. This offer’s really good as well. Don’t get me wrong, I love studying psych. Well, not the exams and other assessment stuff but the content is really fascinating and I want to know more but, I don’t know, I’m not sure if I can see myself doing it for a living. Do you think I’m just avoiding responsibility by staying in college for a few more years?”

Beca leaned back in thought for a few moments. She knew that Emily was looking for legitimate guidance and didn’t want to just give her some half-baked throwaway cliché. “I think there’s really no right answer to what you should be doing next. My take is, if you know you like studying psych go ahead and keep doing it. Don’t feel like an extra degree isn’t worth it just because you might not use it. If it makes you happy it already has its own value. People are always saying you should do what makes you happiest, but that relies on you knowing what that is which I think is complete bullshit. You’re young, you’ve still got time to work out what you want so just try whatever doesn’t make you unhappy. But don’t feel like whatever you decide now is gonna set your future forever. If you accept the offer and you hate it you can always just drop out and do something else. If you decide to go get a job or whatever, you don’t have to pick one and stay there forever. If you want to go travelling all of a sudden, you can go home anytime.”

“I guess you’re right. I just wish I could pick the best option all the time.”

“You and me both, man. You and me both.”

She can hear a long yawn on the other end of the line. “Thanks for the advice, Beca. I should probably head to bed now if I want to be awake for brunch tomorrow. Oh, and thanks for the music subscription!”

“No worries, good night.”

“Night. Oh wait it’s not night for you. Umm good bye!”

Beca chuckles to herself as the call ends. She’s surprised herself a little with the advice she gave Emily. Thinking back to her own words, she thinks maybe she should practice what she preaches. _Time to sack up._

***

_Emily changed the group photo._

***

The last show ends spectacularly. She kills her set and DJ Khaled even invites her on stage to perform a song with him during the encore. The afterparty is everything she expects and more, and it continues to rage on even after she leaves at 1am (she definitely had fun but felt like she had reached her limit by that stage of the night). As she changes into a comfier outfit in her hotel room, she hears the familiar chime of the Bellas’ group chat. Bringing up the app, she laughs out loud at the new chat photo.

Emily has attempted to take a group shot of all the Bellas at Jessica and Ashley’s café, but she is the only one even looking at the camera. There are so many things are going on behind her that Beca doesn’t even know where to begin to look. Fat Amy is stealing a croissant off Chloe’s plate since the redhead was too busy pouting at the waiter. Flo looks as if she’s using her butter knife to animatedly tell a story to Cynthia-Rose who has her head back in laughter. Stacie is handing a bunch of paper napkins to Aubrey who is covered in what looks like Bella’s vomit. Ashley is facing Jessica with her back to the camera and pointing directly at ~~Lily~~ Esther who is sitting cross-legged on a table surrounded by lit candles (thankfully the one on her head is unlit). Last of all, in the presumably empty space next to Emily’s left-handed peace sign, there is a cropped photo of Beca eating cereal badly edited in.

Once her laughter has died down, Beca finds herself still grinning and unable to sleep with her newfound energy. She looks over at the recording desk that no longer held her contract and has an idea. Connecting her laptop and pulling up an instrumental she had made earlier in the tour she starts experimenting with some vocals.

***

 **Beca:** hey guys! wish i was there :(

 **Beca:** just finished something and wanted u all to be the 1st to hear

 **Beca:** lmk what u think

_File uploaded: Shelter.mp4_

**Author's Note:**

> The song Beca attaches at the end is based on Shelter by Porter Robinson & Madeon. I really recommend watching the short story version of it on youtube if you haven't seen it yet.
> 
> Jessley's cafe 'Breakfast and Breakloose' is a reference to Cook, Serve, Delicious! 2!! which I've spent entirely too much time playing lately.


End file.
